Ocado criticises Tesco’s aggression in ad row

Online grocery service Ocado has hit back at “aggressive” Tesco in a row over comparative advertising. Tesco had earlier disputed claims in Ocado’s advertising and threatened to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The dispute arose over an Ocado advertisement, which claimed it could match Tesco’s prices on “all household brands”. Tesco rubbished the claims, saying it is still cheaper on 2,500 products and that Ocado is up to 65% more expensive on some products.

Tesco asked Ocado to withdraw the advertisements and threatened to make a complaint to the ASA if it refused. The ad appeared in some national newspapers earlier this week.

Ocado says it “remains committed” to its Price Match initiative and that it believed it is in the best interests of consumers.

An Ocado spokeswoman says: “While we understand that Tesco does not like us competing with them, and we know they have a reputation for responding aggressively, we are surprised and disappointed that it is threatening us with legal steps when it is quite obvious that our pricing policy is perfectly clear and perfectly legal.”